Kids Are Hip To Old Joe, Informal Check Shows

Out of three fifth-grade classes in Hartford and West Hartford, all but one student recognized a picture of Joe (with cigarette and Camel logo removed). Most kids were acquainted with Joe's various poses and personas -- including beachcomber, tuxedoed lounge lizard and pool shark. They were so familiar with the butt-puffing, big-snouted beast that most said they had seem him on TV. (There haven't been cigarette ads on TV in since 1971.)

Does this mean they'll smoke? The kids themselves say no, which seems to support the tobacco industry's claim that just knowing about Joe Camel doesn't make one a future Camel smoker. But health experts -- and a California study of youths' smoking habits -- suggest that advertising does help create new smokers among the young.

On Monday, the American Medical Association and Surgeon General Antonia Novello jointly asked R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. to stop using the cartoon character to advertise, promote and market the Camel brands.

"These ads are deplorable," said Dr. Novello. "They have to stop."

The AMA and the surgeon general apparently were spurred to action by studies published in December in the Journal of the American Medical Association. One study found that 91 percent of 6-year-olds correctly identified Old Joe -- the same number that correctly identified the Mickey Mouse ears of the Disney Channel logo. In the same issue, researchers established a relationship between heavy advertising and brand use among those under 18. "Our results suggest that tobacco advertising is causally related to young people becoming addicted to cigarettes," concluded the research team.

"He's on a lot of commercials on TV," said Dorsey Spencer, 12, a fifth-grader in Jean Anderson's class at Betances Elementary School in Hartford. "He plays pool."

But does he make smoking look fun? "Yeah," says Spencer, who

adds that she's not interested in smoking because it causes cancer and "dirty lungs." Anderson's class is quite clear that Old Joe wants folks to buy smokes.

Maria Soto, 11, a fifth-grader in Andrea Lazaroski's class at Whiting Lane Elementary School in West Hartford, said her 6-year-old brother said he thought Old Joe was cool. "My father had a talk with him," Soto said.

Jake Lecce, 11, in the same class, described several of the ads: "Sometimes he's playing pool, or sometimes he'll be on the beach. They have him in a car. He usually wears sunglasses."

Does it make puffing seem like a lot of fun? "Yeah -- but it's not," he said.

Darion Williams, 12, of Dominick F. Burns Elementary School in Hartford, seemed an astute media critic: "He [Joe] tries to get people to buy cigarettes," he said, adding that Joe is indeed a cool dude. "But he doesn't show what cigarettes do to people."

These responses seem to suggest that kids can be aware of advertising without being manipulated. Based on this belief, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. of Winston-Salem, N.C., has rejected the call to put Old Joe out to pasture.

"We reject the point that advertising leads to initiation of smoking," said Peggy Carter, manager of media relations for Reynolds. "We don't feel their studies support those conclusions." She said the campaign is aimed at getting adult smokers to switch brands and that Reynolds and other cigarette-makers oppose underage smoking.

However, Jim Bergman, director of Springfield-based Stop Teenage Addiction to Tobacco (STAT), said the kids are giving what they know is the "right" answer when asked about smoking. However, he added, they've clearly been influenced by Old Joe, and the Journal study indicates that as they get older and feel more peer pressure to smoke, their acquaintance with Joe could make them Camel smokers.

"They may be well aware that most of society disapproves of smoking," said Bergman, who believes that kids think they see Old Joe on TV because they see so much of the character.

"They're going after non-smokers and getting them to be smokers," said Bergman. "Anyone who doesn't believe that would buy the Brooklyn Bridge three times."

Dr. John Bigos, a New London lung specialist who is incoming chairman of the state American Cancer Society's public issues committee, said the advertising definitely affects children. "They [kids] on the one hand know [smoking] is bad, but the counter-influence is that it's cool; the camel is a cool guy floating around with palm trees. Kids know a lot of things are bad, but they do them.